Cardinal Levada's edict

Dear Editor,

Your editorial "Cardinal Levada's edict" (Sunday Chronicle March 29,
2006) almost gets it right. On the other hand, Cardinal Levada gets it
totally wrong when he calls Catholic Charities a "Catholic agency".
Catholic Charities is neither "Catholic" nor a "Charity".

On October 4, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge
to the 3rd District Court of Appeals ruling of July 2001 that properly
ruled Catholic Charities is a secular organization receiving
considerable government funding. The California Supreme Court upheld
state law saying Catholic Charities cannot be exempt because it is not a
religious employer, provides services to people of various religions and
does not directly preach Roman Catholic doctrine (California Healthline
<http://www.californiahealthline.org/index.cfm?Action=dspItem&itemID=967
59> , 3/2).

It's time for the Catholic Church to make a choice. If they want
Catholic Charities to be a Catholic organization promoting Catholic
values, they must stop taking public money and return to the charitable
orientation demanded of the Church by Jesus Christ. Or they must accept
that Catholic Charities is a public entity and should rightfully be
responsive to public demands on policy. It will be interesting to see
where Cardinal Levada and the Catholic Church settle on their values.

Michael Denny

866 37th Ave

San Francisco, CA 94121

(415) 750-9340

Office: 415-986-7677 x123

mike@...

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